The present invention relates to drums or containers, and more particularly to a drum conditioner which is capable of providing an external force on a container so as to crack and loosen powdered products or other material in a finely divided state which has solidified and hardened within the container.
It is well known in the industrial world that powdered material held in storage containers that have been sitting for long periods of time tends to solidify and harden and thus becomes difficult to remove and manipulate. Past solutions range from striking the outside of the container with a heavy object to shaking or stirring the contents of the container. Such efforts are often time consuming and do not generally prove effective in loosening the entire mass of material.
It is thus one object of the present invention to provide a drum conditioner which quickly and effectively loosens a powdered or other finely divided product contained in the drum.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a drum conditioner which is capable of rotating the container or drum while pressure is applied on the outer surface of the drum so as to loosen the product around the perimeter of the product core, thus facilitating removal of the product from the drum.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a drum conditioner in which outside pressure is applied in a stepped profile along the length of the drum through the use of pressure rollers and in which opposing pressure points are staggered relative to each other so as to create cross-cracking in the product core as well as longitudinal cracking.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a drum conditioner which can accommodate different diameter drums.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a drum conditioner which can accommodate drums which are not perfectly circular in cross section while maintaining such a drum in working position.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a drum conditioner with a roller conveyer bed to facilitate the entry and exit of the drums.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a support surface for support of the drum during operation of the drum conditioner which is separate from the roller conveyer bed.